Shades of a Golden Child
by Fallstavia
Summary: Exalted 1e Sidereal story.  An elder Bronze Faction Sidereal sees to the instruction of a new Gold Faction...and shows him what it means to serve the Bureau of Destiny and how far she will go to save the world.
1. Chapter 1

The carriage, an ornate affair of polished brass and fine ash wood stained a deep red, stopped outside the manor's gates. This part of the Imperial City was lightly populated. Its grounds bordered the Imperial Palace and only the wealthy maintained homes here. This street ran for miles but only serviced a dozen or so domiciles. The carriage was characteristic of the area in appearance.

It, like its contents, were far more than they seemed.

Iselsi Navia stepped out of the Bureau carriage. Dimensionally transcendent, it could carry a great deal more than it should. At the moment, though, she only had one companion. The Chosen of Secrets looked back into the carriage's interior and waited.

At last, Dallen Andair climbed out after her. He looked quite handsome in the Dynastic fashion. Naturally, his skin was too dark, too tanned, to pass for Realm-born. Nonetheless, his youthful features carried an air of dignity and maturity. His ruffled shirt and breeches fit him as perfectly as the short waistcoat. Navia couldn't help but compare him to Runic Isolation, E'lial's protégé.

Of the two, she felt the man in front of her was superior. At least, he would be. He needed convincing first.

"Where are we, Sifu?" he asked coldly.

Navia stared at the taller man with somber eyes. Dallen had been a Chosen of Battles less than a year and her student for only a few months. In that time, his hatred for her had concentrated, distilled itself into a core of black passion, cleverly concealed with indifference and topped by anger. She knew this and let it be, knowing that a simple prayer strip from her belt could change that hate to love. Hate was better for now. It made him strong.

Now she had to make him wise.

"Home," Navia said. She turned from the carriage and walked. The slight delay in his answering footsteps suggested the revelation had surprised him.

It was spring on the Blessed Isle and Meru's remnant looked more glorious than anything in Creation right now. Trees gave forth leaves, birds called out in song, and the fine mansions of the Houses looked regal, impressive, yet accommodating of the returned forces of life. Navia deeply inhaled the fresh air, still clean in this lightly populated part of the Imperial City.

It wasn't Heaven. But it was home.

The walk past the gates took them by rows of perfectly maintained bushes and shrubs, past an immaculate lawn with its share of statues. The enclosed round sat idly empty, as usual, but its construction still looked fresh, ready to offer privacy for those strolling the grounds. As for the mansion, it looked unchanged. Built of stone almost a century and a half ago, the now-ancestral home of the Da'nashay family had hardly existed long enough to pick up more than a chip in the masonry.

"You live here, Sifu?" Dallen asked quietly.

Navia smiled to herself. "When I have the time."

"How often is that?"

"Let's see...I spend the second week of every year, if I can manage it, once the disasters from Calibration are cleaned up. Sometimes I can make it for a summer party."

Dallen said nothing else as they walked but Navia felt satisfied that she had made the right choice in bringing him here. The silence was welcome. She did not speak much by nature and this was the first time she had company with her...ever.

The path gave way to the immediate stone avenue in front of the mansion, large enough for visiting Dynasts to depart their carriages. Navia remembered every one of the 97 parties she and her husband had held here since the mansion's construction. The memory of times past mixed with the predictive threads of events to come. She saw herself arm-in-arm with Da'nashay 42 years ago...and she marked a place they would kiss in 3 years.

Navia walked to the double doors and went through when they opened for her. Dallen's step faltered again. Heaven was still new to him and the easy enchantments of the Realm evidently were too. Of course, Easthaven was hardly a nation for decorative magic. Dallen had been forged of fire, in war, and he was eminently a Chosen of Battles by Destiny and nature. He probably thought this was a waste of resources.

"You may leave your coat here, apprentice," she said, gesturing to the Small God who waited. The Forbidding Manse of Ivy paid this servant for its discreet services and it served in Creation well enough, despite its Celestial nature. Heaven was not what it had been and many looked for work. She did not know this one's name nor did she need to. It was enough that it obeyed and did not speak of Heaven's affairs with her family.

The Chosen of Secrets walked her home and knew where her husband was. Trailed by her Chosen of Battles protégé, Navia moved without hurry up the expansive stairwell to the third floor. She found Da'nashay in his small study, one of the three or four rooms he favored during the short times he managed to be home. The place looked much more settled now, owing to the recall of his Legion eight months ago.

"Good morning, my husband," Navia said as she opened the door. The Dragon-Blooded soldier sat just so in his chair, his shirt neatly pressed, his pants without wrinkle. All the papers on his desk were just as well-arranged and it looked like he'd been reading a great deal, given the number of books set aside in a stack for reshuffling.

Her husband was a handsome man, in a worn, rough, craggy sort of way. His jaw was solid and square, his shiny black hair smoothed down the back of his neck, and the stubble on his face almost looked decoratively intentional. His skin was most unusually colored, in shades of red and purple like a sunset...or a distant flame.

And his eyes were the most beautiful emerald green she'd ever seen.

"Navia," he said warmly. That face's inflexibility relaxed as Da'nashay smiled at her. "Welcome home. I didn't expect to see you until next year. Not that I'm complaining." Navia felt the light of his love for her, a pure innocent flame. She'd kindled it from a prayer strip 150 years ago but it had long since surpassed that Charm. She closed her eyes and bowed her head to her husband, humbled and awed every time by the incredible regard he had for her. She knew it for the priceless treasure it was and it had been given to her alone.

Just as only Da'nashay had her heart. That her love was equally supernatural in origin, that she knew and had done this, did not change the deep contentment that came from a century and a half of marriage. All told, they had spent just under a year of total time in each other's company. Navia knew she could measure out exactly how many seconds had passed with him, for she had altered her perception of time on each visit, living a year in a day. It was a lie but one she knew and lived with.

If Da'nashay and she never parted again, if he lived as long as she did, it would still not be enough time with him.

"An opportunity arose to come home," Navia said, trusting her husband's discretion. "I heard of your Legion's recall. How do matters stand?"

"Poorly," he said. A hint of a smile remained but Da'nashay was all business when it came to soldiering. "They don't trust me. Of course they don't, why should they? I answer to no House and hold my rank by the graces of my mother. They can't just execute me, of course, and their attempt to kill my Legion failed too. Final Starry Night no longer leads Xi'ar'na, did you know? Without that Anathema's sorcerous might, his army was easy enough to rout. Well trained, well supplied, but they lacked experience." His beautiful green eyes glanced past her shoulder and widened. "Ah, forgive my manners. You didn't tell me you had company."

"My husband, this is my apprentice, Dallen Andair," Navia said smoothly, gliding through the doorway to clear room for both men. "Dallen, this is General Da'nashay."

"General Da'nashay!" Dallen said. Navia watched him curb his enthusiasm with admirable restraint. "I grew up reading your books on military strategy, Sir. Even in Easthaven we've heard of you and how you threw down the Kirigast Invasion, how your armies defeated the Thri-Kahn's forces." The Chosen of Battles stood at attention, grave and respectful as any soldier. "Is it true, what they say about the Faerie Incursion of Rathess?"

"True enough," Da'nashay said, chuckling with amusement. "My Legion lived and they didn't. Ilis Farning was kept from direct attack, its people unharmed. What more can you ask for?" He shook Dallen's hand with an easy strength, with the bearing of a man long used to veneration and respect.

"You're a legend, Sir." Dallen's eyes held Da'nashay's...then shifted back to her. His expression turned incredulous, disbelieving. "I can't believe you're married to General Da'nashay, Sifu."

"For 166 years," Navia said.

Dallen's face told her everything. He sheltered his hate behind his mask of indifference...but, like it or not, he'd been forced to reassess her. "I thought you said..."

"Later, apprentice," she answered, cutting him off before he said something unfortunate. "Now please step outside. My daughter is at the front door. I would like her sent up here, please."

Dallen's face hardened at the reminder of his subservient status. "Yes, Sifu." She watched him go, pleased he had learned so much in so short a time. Epiphany had been a far more rebellious Ronin...but then again, she'd been committed to a cause she could not carry out in Heaven. Dallen's purpose was before him always. It gave him the patience to be polite.

Once the Chosen of Battles was out of sight, Navia closed the study's doors and settled into her husband's lap. Da'nashay sighed, a deep bass rumble that warmed her. She embraced him, arms around his neck, and rested her head on top of his head.

"I missed you," he said, sliding his arms around her waist, sheltering her in his strength.

"I missed you too," she said. They remained like that for a time. His hair smelled of spice and man. Navia breathed his fragrance and allowed herself three tears for what needed to come next.

The four of them ate dinner that night in the ballroom. It was a formal affair, as family dinners had always been, but with little ceremony. Despite the oversized oak table, large enough to seat fifty, they only took up the end of it. Da'nashay sat at the head of the table, with his wife on the left and his daughter on the right. Dallen sat next to Navia and did his best not to look like an idiot.

He shouldn't feel intimidated but easier said than done. He sat at a table with Da'nasahy, General of the Crimson Legion. Da'nashay, the Flame of the South, the Banner of the Realm. His daughter, Colonel Da'nashay Rhiann, was only marginally less famous. She'd started at the bottom of the Legions and won her way upwards through sheer brilliance. The willowy red headed Fire-Aspect looked exactly like her mother, only taller and with blue eyes. Where Navia radiated a cool serenity, though, Rhiann seemed to burn with a smoldering readiness.

Dallen sat with legends...and his Sifu. They all had Dynastic training and followed the several courses with practiced grace, using this implement in this order, taking only so many bites and so on. The Chosen of Battles felt relieved that all the book-learning Navia had crammed into his head paid its way now. At least he knew what to do. Doing it and looking good...that was harder.

Not that he had anything to prove to the Ice Queen. But General Da'nashay...that's another matter.

"Tell me, Dallen," General Da'nashay said, rumbling as he cleared his throat. "How long have you and my wife worked together?"

"A few months, Sir," he said politely.

"Ah. How do you like the job?"

"I don't, Sir." Dallen flashed the General a smile. Just because he respected her husband didn't mean he would lie for the woman who'd stolen him away from his life. Da'nashay chuckled and his skin glinted with the light of a cheery fire.

"I respect honesty. If it makes you feel better, she doesn't either." The elder Dragon-Blooded grinned at Dallen's unconcealed surprise. Navia, for her part, said nothing but took slow, methodical bites of her food. His reserved Sidereal Sifu looked like she enjoyed the meal.

"Thank you, Sir," Dallen said at last, not knowing what else to say.

"You've served," Colonel Da'nashay Rhiann said quietly. Dallen looked at the face of a woman who so resembled his enemy. He couldn't quite bring himself to hate her for it, though. She wasn't her mother. Besides, she wore the Realm uniform like she'd been bred for it and her air of command reminded him more of Rhiann's father.

"Yes, ma'am. I was an Outrider of Easthaven."

"Cavalry then," Rhiann said, smiling a little. "Well, that's fair. I've heard good things about your horses and equipment. Good things about your soldiers, too. We could have used men of your quality in Rathess."

"Thank you, ma'am," Dallen said, nodding respectfully.

"What brings you to...?" Colonel Da'nashay Rhiann stopped as quickly as she started at the look from both of her parents. "I apologize."

Dinner proceeded at a leisurely rate. Dallen managed some small talk but mostly held back, listening to the family talk. It became painfully obvious in short order that they didn't spend much time around each other. They had much to talk about but did so slowly, always at a distance and with a faint air of disconnection. Navia's reserve was expected but surprisingly Rhiann seemed equally inhibited in talking to either parent...perhaps because she rarely saw her mother, perhaps because most of the time her father was in the chain of command.

They were gracious hosts who strived to include him. Da'nashay proved every bit as impressive as the tales made him out to be. And yet, by the end of the evening, Dallen realized he felt profoundly sorry for the whole family. For the husband and father who had a wife and daughter so involved in separate lives. For the daughter who mastered her career but hardly knew how to relate to her parents. ...and even a small amount for the Sidereal so divorced from their lives .

Then Dallen realized what she'd tried to do.

Anger and rage rose at once, drowning his pity. By the end of dessert, he'd mastered himself. Dallen kept his smile on with the iron-like restraint of a true sniper. He had once lain prone, not moving whatsoever, for two days in order to get the necessary killing shot on a Faerie. The slightest movement would have betrayed him to their supernaturally sensitive ears...but he hadn't. Nor would he break cover now. Not until he'd learned everything he could from his captor.

"Thank you for dinner, husband," Navia said, smiling sweetly at General Da'nashay. It seemed a real smile but for Dallen's knowledge of who she was...what she was. In a flash like light, he remembered Navia giving him the same smile...with her hand locked around Velessa's throat.

Lieutenant Velessa Falling-Light...the woman he loved. She was his superior officer but the last year had made it seem irrelevant. In battle, he followed her orders without question...and at night, they came together in a way that could bring tears to his eyes if he let it. He would have proposed in another year, once his salary accrued enough for a good ring and home. They would have settled, maybe raised some kids...or maybe they'd stay on in the Outriders.

But that dream had shattered beneath the cruel hands of Iselsi Navia. He remembered her sweet smirk as Velessa hung helpless, struggling to breathe with the hand on her throat, sobbing with the pain of a broken shoulder and disjointed arm. His love, his bride-to-be...almost killed by a woman who didn't know the meaning of the word 'mercy'.

Only one thing had saved Lieutenant Velessa Falling-Light. Dallen's oath, sworn on the name of the Bureau of Destiny, still burned fitfully in his heart. He couldn't escape the sensation nor he could he escape the reminder that his life no longer belonged to him. Instead, it belonged to Navia. Her.

His Sifu.


	2. Chapter 2

His Sifu.

"Apprentice, a moment if you please."

The Chosen of Battles turned away from Iselsi Navia's husband and daughter to look at the smiling face of his worst enemy. "Of course, Sifu."

They walked together from the dining table, leaving behind two of the most respected Dragon-Blooded in the Realm in Dallen's esteem. The spring air felt cold once they exited the mansion and Dallen regretted the absence of his coat for a moment. Then he remembered Navia's teachings and regulated his temperature with an act of will. He didn't hesitate to use what she knew.

Dallen Andair would learn everything Navia could teach him...and kill her with it. Not murder but an execution. Not for vengeance but for justice.

"What do you think of my husband?" she asked at last, as they drifted in a seemingly random fashion through the ground's gardens.

"He is an honorable man," Dallen said.

"And my daughter?"

"A fine soldier, Sifu."

"Ah." Navia walked silently, slowly, lost in thought. Dallen didn't speak, didn't question, only obeyed. Yet he couldn't help but notice the peculiar architecture of the garden's statues, familiar icons and shapes from the Bureau of Destiny. The mansion seemed Da'nashay's but apparently this garden belonged to his Sidereal wife.

"Sifu."

"You know you are always free to question me in private, apprentice," Navia said softly. She lingered at one statue, a figure of a Maiden holding an apple and a horn.

"No Resplendent Destiny?"

"No." Navia sighed and moved on, the edges of her green dress trailing behind. She didn't wear the robes of an Immaculate today, probably because of the company she kept. The forest-green contrasted nicely with the thick, curly red hair that hung to her waist. She looked quite lovely for a monster. "Once there was one but I abandoned it after a rival tried to use me against my husband."

"What do they remember?" he asked.

"Little. People know Da'nashay is a married man but no one remembers to whom. Neither he nor Rhiann talk of me and so little thought is given. He is the son of the Scarlet Empress, and she her granddaughter. What is Iselsi Navia to that, the overseer of the All-Seeing Eye, to that?"

"You didn't answer my question, Sifu," Dallen said, scenting vulnerability in the Exalt's evasiveness.

"Quite right, Dallen." Navia honored him with a tight smile and his name. If you could call it honor. "They remember me. Some people will, if you spend enough time around them."

"Did you?"

"No." Navia traced a path of tears along the cheek of another Maiden statue. "But they are both Sorcerers and strong enough of will. If I sometimes seem hazy and indistinct...well, neither sees me enough to remember everything and both believe me an All-Seeing Eye spymaster, cunning in the ways of subterfuge. It is easy enough to explain away."

"Why did you bring me here, Sifu?"

"To teach you what you must be able to do."

The answer surprised him. He'd expected her to say something about sympathy, something about recognizing her as human too. Why else could he be here but for that? So she had a family she loved but hardly saw. Sol Invictus, how did she expect that to make him more sympathetic when she'd stolen him from the woman he loved?

Dallen realized she'd stopped at the end of an ill-used path, overgrown with ivy on tall lattices. A small circular room in the hedges held a full-size statue of the Maiden of Endings...with a sheaf of paper in one hand...and a sword held to Her own throat. He stepped around a small hedge facing the statue and stared.

"What is this?" he asked, surprised. Though used to depictions of the Maidens, he'd never seen one like this.

"A reminder, apprentice," Navia said. She approached the statue, carefully folded the hems of her dress and knelt before the icon. Navia slowly lowered her forehead to the ground in an act of ultimate homage. Dallen knew all the Chosen worked collectively for the Maidens but he'd never seen a Sidereal so openly worship a Maiden that hadn't Chosen them. It shocked him to see Navia, so seemingly devout, do so.

"Of what? All things End?"

"That too," Navia said, lifting her head from the ground. "But for me, it is a reminder of the ultimate necessity of our calling. The Maiden of Endings does not threaten self-execution in this depiction because all things must End including the Incarna. She is ready to execute Herself in the event She no longer performs the function She must."

"That's not really true...is it?" Dallen felt uncomfortable now, deep in a side to Sidereals he'd never seen.

"The Maiden of Endings continues Her work today, apprentice, but ever She stands ready to bring what must End to an End...including Herself if She fails to do Her duty. This is as true as any other aspect is true."

"I already had a duty," Dallen said quietly, drawing her out with the truth. It was a technique she seemed fond of and would distract her. For all that Dallen remained an Outrider, he'd learned a great deal about subtlety in the Bureau. Let her guess incorrectly at his motivation. "And duty doesn't excuse evil, Sifu. Far be it for me to judge the Maiden of Endings...but She Ends what She has to. The Sun's still greater, bigger, stronger...and following His cause will make a world where She won't have to End so many things."

"Sidereal do not have the luxury of moral debate," Navia said sharply, the first sign of anger he'd seen from her in a month. He repressed a grin. Who was pulling the strings now? "I am not here to convince you or persuade you with words. I brought you here to show you how far you must go to save the world...and to show you how far I am willing to go. Look at Her hand."

Dallen looked...and saw the sheaf of paper was real. He stepped forward and brushed his fingers against it. Heaven-Wrought Parchment, the standard signatory paper of the Bureau of Fate. Sidereals could write astrological effects on many things but Heaven-Wrought Parchment placated the Pattern Spiders the best and served as official Division stock for all records.

He glanced back at Navia. Her face held no expression. Slowly, he tugged the top sheet free.

**Da'nashay, You Will Stand Against Tyranny But It Will Break You. Your Mother Is Dead And You Will Die Next. You Must Rise Up And Proclaim Yourself Successor Or Danaa'd Will Spurn You And Your Soul Will Never Be Reborn. You Must Sacrifice Yourself For The Realm, Bring Attention To Its Sins Through Your Execution, Or Your Life Will Have Meant Nothing.**

Dallen dropped the paper, horrified at the shocking Destiny laid out...and at the bold slash of Navia's own signature upon the paper.

"What is...what is this! How could you do this to your own husband?" Dallen had to fight to control the sweet swell of killing frenzy. Intentionally or not, he'd softened a little at the knowledge that she was married to one of the most honorable, moral generals the Realm had ever produced. Then, Navia did this, almost as if she deliberately gave him opportunity to hate her more. Did she see the truth after all? Did she want him to hate her?

"I haven't." Navia pointed at the next sheet of paper. Dallen hesitantly lifted an edge, saw Da'nashay Rhiann's name on it and let go as if it were made of acid. "I trained you better than this, apprentice. Use what you have been taught and what you knew before you came to me."

Dallen struggled to do what she said, obeying because understanding her lessons had unlocked new understandings in many things. The Violet Bier of Sorrows coalesced in his mind because of her teachings. He would use this as he had everything else. Someday, he would be stronger...and then he would be free.

"Dust...these have been here a long time. How long?"

"I change them every year. These have been here for months." Navia said.

"No one's else has touched them."

"That is true," Navia agreed. "This place is warded from casual intrusion." Coming from the elder Chosen of Secrets, that monumental understatement was probably rivaled only by saying 'the Faerie are not nice'.

"Why?"

"Remember the sword, apprentice." His eyes shot to the statue. Navia stood, walked to him and retrieved the fallen paper. She took Da'nashay Rhiann's sheet as well. "Look more closely," she said, pressing it into his hand.

Dallen looked at the now-familiar forms...and saw it, just as Navia stepped back and sat on a bench. She hadn't signed the form...she'd cosigned it. A perfectly prepared petition lay in his hands, small tabs indicating the sacrifices already made to the Pattern Spiders and the prior approval of Nara-O. While working Astrology was still tremendously difficult for him, Navia had made this very easy. All he had to do was sign it.

All he had to do was sign these forms and he'd kill those Navia loved most.

"This is a trick," Dallen Andiar insisted. It had to be.

"No."

"Why do this, Sifu? Why put their lives in my hands?"

"Because a Sidereal can allow no compromise in their lives!" Navia's Anima rose, a whispery gold-edged green that rippled the leaves of ivy in the garden. It mirrored her unconcealed anger. "I told you, apprentice. We are Sidereal, Chosen of the Maidens. We do not have the luxury for lives, ties or distractions in the mortal world if we cannot prioritize. I allowed myself a husband and a daughter only when I knew I could kill them if I needed to. You must do the same."

"Have you lost your mind?"

"I know my mind, apprentice" she said sternly. "I revise these petitions every year I return here. Every year I sign their death warrant, suspended only as long as I can retain my objectivity. Now you have them in your hand. You have only to sign them. I will not stop you."

"I'm not signing these," Dallen said, shaking his head.

"Then you agree I remain objective."

Dallen opened his mouth...and shut it. He didn't understand the game she played but he couldn't deny she played it well. Navia had showed him the sword at her throat, given it to him and dared him to put her to the test.

"No, Sifu, I don't accept that. You made these rules, not me. I'm not killing a man I respect because his wife says I have to if I disagree with her." Though he sincerely believed that she was wrong, General Da'nasahy didn't deserve to die to punish her.

"What if my husband's life meant the death of thousands?" Navia's star-filled emerald eyes gleamed a resonant shade with her Anima. "I am Sidereal, just as you are. We are all that keeps this world from destruction. Over a hundred million souls will die if we fail. We were not made for this but it falls to us and we have preserved the world through every catastrophe imaginable and exactly seven that are not. Do you understand the stakes?"

"Yes, Sifu," Dallen said.

"Then understand that responsibility. If I make a choice out of emotion, rather than necessity, I risk the world. What if I stay my hand, allow the man I love to survive when it is his time to die? He could rise up, claim the Scarlet Throne and rule as a tyrant, pitching the world into war."

"Enough 'what if's'," Dallen said. He shook his head, grateful for Jad Ivask's keen insight and unwavering moral virtue. His commander, Zenith and Outrider both, had taught him much. And every lesson was something a man could live with. "I'm not killing any man on your word, Sifu."

"You do not care for hypothetical scenarios, apprentice?" Navia's voice grew grim and her countenance cold. "Then let's move past the possible into the actual." She drew out a folder, set it on the bench beside her and bowed her head.

Dallen stood there for a long minute. She didn't move. The wind picked up, though it hardly pushed through the mantle of hedges warding this place from the weather. Crisp air still pushed through, the last memory of winter. His feet had enough time to get cold before he finally moved.

The folder bore the embossed Fivefold Fellowship seal and Old Realm characters spelled out 'Confidential Personnel file' across its surface. Dallen stared in disbelief. Some Sidereals went a thousand years before even catching sight of planning data or profiles. Yet...here it was. What game did Navia play? What was she after?

"Let me guess...you have something in here that's supposed to convince me to kill Velessa."

"No," Navia said. The remoteness on her face faded. Then...a tear trickled down her cheek.

Dallen tried not to care. Iselsi Navia was a monster, a killing machine who slaughtered the innocent to follow some insane agenda. She wore the trappings of love and family because it suited her. It gave her leverage to manipulate him, just as she tried to make him hate her. Maybe she'd never married Da'nashay at all! This whole thing could be a lie.

He opened the folder.


	3. Chapter 3

_Most Auspiciously Blessed One:_

_  
Your soul was deemed worthy of Celestial Exaltation as a Chosen of Secrets. Your presence is required in the Forbidding Manse of Ivy in Yu-Shan. Please present this missive to the nearest Shogunate official but keep its contents confidential. _

_Should you fail to respond to this urgent summons, you will be in violation of YS-BOF 42-196.13 regarding Sidereal responsibility and decorum. You risk the integrity of the Shogunate and the Bureau of Fate. You may be charged and the Violet Bier of Sorrows, at its discretion, may dispatch an operative to escort you to the nearest Celestial Gate. You have three (3) days by earthly reckoning to present this missive to the Shogunate. _

_  
If you have received this missive in error (you are not Nefvarian Navia or you have already contacted the Bureau of Fate), please present this missive to the nearest Shogunate official for collection._

Regards,  
Lu'kyrie Shard

_Auspiciously Inclined Seeker of Recent Exaltations_

_Division of Exaltation_

_3549 In Solis_

_(Year of the Raiton, Mercury Era of the 1st Epoch)_

Dallen looked at the date and whistled. Easthaven used a variant of the old Shogunate Calendar and it amazed him to see the datestamp on the letter. This sheet of Heaven-Wrought Parchment was almost 1400 years old. And that meant...

He looked at the elder Sidereal, a woman so serene and controlled despite the tear still glistening on her cheek. Dallen expected her to use her family against him, anticipated her appeal to duty. But he'd never expected to see something from her childhood.

Who Date vSubject Chejop Kejak3554/12/3Fw: Golden Child Sid - Nefvarian Navia? 

_Concluding Emollient3554/12/5Re: Golden Child Sid - Nefvarian Navia?_

_Chejop Kejak3554/12/6Nefvarian Navia - Confidential_

"What is this, Sifu?"

"The truth," she answered. Coming from a Chosen of Secrets, it seemed a contradictory statement. But he couldn't argue with a personnel file. Hell, it was a Severity to forge this no matter what it said. Iselsi Navia wouldn't break the Law of Heaven, just to put one over him. No Sidereal would.

_Chejop KejakTo: Bent One Winged Angel/Bureau of Fate/Secrets_

_3554/12/3cc: _

_bcc:_

_Subject: Fw: Golden Child Sid - Nefvarian Navia?_

_Looks like the Maiden has plans for Taking Chances. FYI. _

_Naro-OTo: Chejop Kejak/Bureau of Fate/Secrets_

_3554/12/2cc: Concluding Emollient/Bureau of Fate/Endings, The Golden Dragon/Bureau of Fate/Loom of Fate_

_bcc:_

_Subject: Golden Child Sid- Nefvarian Navia?_

_Nefvarian Navia, SID# 92, turned herself in today at a Shogunate Security Consul in Meru. Chejop, her case is four years outstanding so please update SID#92 case file accordingly. _

_Nefvarian Navia has been taken into custody and is being held prior to transfer to Yu-Shan. Examination reveals evidence that she is a Golden Child. The Golden Dragon is requested to examine her to trace her lineage. As her records show, she is presently fourteen years of age and so conceived well after the Oricalcum Infraction._

_Chejop Kejak, I must regretfully decline your request to be her Sifu. As Orloria Kessen was your Sifu, we prefer her replacement have an instructor with less potential bias. _

_Concluding Emollient, please draft her Non-Compliance Assessment and forward to Chejop Kejak for dissemination to her eventual Sifu. _

_**This message is intended only for the addressee and may contain information that is confidential or privileged. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you are not the intended recipient, or the person responsible for delivering to the intended recipient, you should not read, copy, disclose or otherwise use this message, except for the purpose of delivery to the addressee. If you have received this notice in error, please advise the Forbidding Manse of Ivy immediately.**_

"You were a Ronin?" he asked in disbelief.

"Not exactly," Navia said. Her voice sounded like one of the Dowager's Nemessaries, as empty as it was. "I was only 10 years old when I received that summons. I did not deliberately defy the Bureau. Read on."

_Chejop KejakTo: Bent One Winged Angel/Bureau of Fate/Secrets_

_3554/12/6cc: Nara-O/Bureau of Fate/Secrets_

_bcc:_

_Subject: Nefvarian Navia - Confidential_

_Per Nara-O, your request to be Nefvarian Navia's Sifu is granted. As the Sifu to a dozen other Sidereals, you doubtlessly know policy but it is incumbent on me to advise you to refresh yourself on any changes in New Sidereal guidelines. _

_Per Nara-O, your first priority is to use her to draw out Taking Chances. The Golden Dragon's Blood-Kin Sense will pierce her protective Charms and enable pursuit. You are granted Mandate-level access to all Bureau resources for the purposes of apprehending and killing the Inspector of the Night._

_Please note the Non-Compliance Assessment attached. Your discretion in training Nefvarian Navia is absolute, of course. Per Nara-O, it is recommended that she be told the contents of her Non-Compliance Assessment. It is felt that the truth will motivate her to excel, to help overcome the loss of 4 work years in a timely fashion. Please see Nara-O with any questions. _

_**This message is intended only for the addressee and may contain information that is confidential or privileged. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you are not the intended recipient, or the person responsible for delivering to the intended recipient, you should not read, copy, disclose or otherwise use this message, except for the purpose of delivery to the addressee. If you have received this notice in error, please advise the Forbidding Manse of Ivy immediately.**_

"There is only a little more," Navia said. She didn't seem serene anymore. A better word might be deadened or numb. Dallen read on. He had to know how this ended.

_Concluding EmollientTo: Naro-O/Bureau of Fate/Secrets_

_3554/12/5cc: Chejop Kejak/Bureau of Fate/Secrets_

_bcc: Bent One Winged Angel/Bureau of Fate/Secrets_

_Subject: Fw: Re: Golden Child Sid- Nefvarian Navia?_

Non-Compliance Assessment is as follows.

_Projected Workflow Impact: _

_Nefvarian Navia was in receipt of a Summons four years ago and did not acknowledge it. Her workload will be absorbed by other Agents, as per YS-BOF 10-111.29. The following includes those items other Agents are not expected to have the time or resources to absorb._

_-0 Anathema Horoscopes missed._

_-3 Untimely Anathema Profiles _

_-2 Promotions held up._

_-14 New nations will form unsupervised._

_[+ -147,120 total projected deaths._

_[+ -27 persistent errors climax without intervention._

-0 First Circle errors climax without intervention.

_-0 Second Circle errors climax without intervention._

_-0 Third Circle errors climax without intervention._

_Actual:_

_Nefvarian Navia was in receipt of a Summons four years ago and did not acknowledge it. As a result, the following occurred that would have been prevented had she complied._

_Father: Nefvarian Horis (DB Strain#162)_

_-Rating 3 disruption of Shogunate offices per Navia's case._

_-4 DB killed, causing a downstream bloodline error of 1.47._

_Mother: Taking Chances (see Inspector of the Night SOL# 498)_

_Military:_

_[+ - 19 Incidents of Disruption of Shogunate Facilities. _

_[+ -Approximately 14,972,224,808 corsins in damages._

_[+ -Approximately 26,002 casualties (unconfirmed). _

_Civilian:_

_-9,072 confirmed casualties._

_-101,998 unconfirmed casualties._

_Other:_

_-Agent KIA (Ellis Piers SID#37)_

_-[+162 Celestial Gods KIA_

_Without a profile on Navia, I would recommend discretion in sharing this information with her. Innocence must End eventually but I don't know the Bureau is best served by crushing a teenage girl with the knowledge that her delay in joining the Bureau directly resulted in the deaths of 35,000-136,000 people. _

_Concluding Emollient_

_**This message is intended only for the addressee and may contain information that is confidential or privileged. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you are not the intended recipient, or the person responsible for delivering to the intended recipient, you should not read, copy, disclose or otherwise use this message, except for the purpose of delivery to the addressee. If you have received this notice in error, please advise the Forbidding Manse of Ivy immediately.**_

Iselsi Navia watched Dallen set the folder down and stand, brooding in thought. She felt the paths his thoughts might follow, saw the echoing ripple of endless forthcoming permutations. Like any Exalt, her apprentice could ignore the Tapestry's directive if he tried. Unlike other Celestial Exalts, Dallen had no directives from the Tapestry to ignore. Only a responsibility he could embrace or decline.

"This doesn't change anything," Dallen said at last.

"Would you like to see your Non-Compliance Assessment?"

The former Outrider glared harshly at her, his red eyes flashing like a storm of blood. His fists tightened and Dallen looked nothing like the refined Dynast he dressed to be. "It changes NOTHING. People die all the time, Sifu, in one place or another. You can't make me feel guilty for what's going to happen anyway."

It was a marvelous facade. Of course, Navia knew perfectly well his deceit. He wanted her to think that he needed coaxing because it would avoid deeper scrutiny. She admired his intentions. Give your adversary something they believed and they would believe it. Dallen Andair learned everything she taught him despite and because of that deceit. But he had not yet learned the most important lesson.

"Then I should kill you now, to free your Exaltation to find a host with a conscience."

"What? How can you talk of conscience? You tried to murder the woman I love." Dallen's eyes emptied of his hate, became a smoothly reflective surface that showed nothing of his feelings. She'd hit close to home, it seemed. "You tried to kill my commander and the people I respect, and for what? Some stupid empty Philosophy with some stupid empty Prophecy behind it. How can you tell me I'm without conscience when you kill in the name of some ridiculous belief?"

"How is killing in the name of the Unconquered Sun any different?" Navia raised a single finger in warning and he hesitated. "Think, my apprentice. Jad Ivask, your Zenith leader, killed people because he believed he was right. Belief is a powerful tool, for them and for us. The difference is that the Solar allow their beliefs to control them. Our beliefs only inform us."

"Lies. Their beliefs come from the Incarna!"

"The Maidens are not Incarna also? But consider this." Navia brushed at the robes across her knees. "A Solar raises an army to unite the North because he believes the world will be better off under one rule. Your Solar opposes him because he uses Demons to fight with, because he is careless with civilians. Both men fight from their sense of rightness...but with different sensibilities and to different results."

Dallen shook his head and turned his back to her. The Chosen of Secrets rose from her bench and walked behind her apprentice, gently cupping the back of his neck. Dallen's muscles were tight beneath her touch, hardly tolerant of her presence. His face could lie, as could his lips, but his body spoke the truth. Beneath the lie of obsession, beneath the indifference he thought he felt, lay true hatred. Good.

"Dallen...the Solar are beautiful and wonderful...and once they made an amazing world possible through their vision," she murmured into his ear. "But that vision grew dark. I admit it seems light now but we cannot gamble the lives of Creation's peoples on Solar fancy. Don't make the mistake I made."

"Jad isn't Taking Chances," Dallen said, suddenly calm again. His discipline was impressive in one so young. "Don't paint the Solar with your mother's doings."

"Hers was but one tale of the First Age, my apprentice." Navia shook her head and leaned it against Dallen's. He shuddered but didn't move. Better. "Nonetheless, I once felt as you did. My mother was so wondrous. How could a creature that beautiful, that all-knowing be wicked? Mother graced my dreams with paradisiacal pictures and gave me a Chillikin to keep me company when she was away. I received that Summons when I was only 10, hours after my Exaltation. But even then, I knew what it meant. I'd been called to serve in Heaven...and Heaven wanted Mother dead."

Navia slowly walked about to face him, her head still resting against his until their foreheads touched. Conflict radiated from him, wound through his thread like a child. Mars would be pleased. "I acted out of sentiment and love. I did not turn my mother in. And thousands died. She murdered them and would not had I acted."

"So they were corrupt then. That doesn't mean they will be again. They've learned."

"Have they?" Navia shook her head slowly, moving his with it. "The Bull of the North tells me otherwise. Seras Winterblood speaks with courage and conviction but her temper is a thing of legend already. Jad Ivask is a hard man, despite his soft heart, and sometimes even he does what other men could not do. Face the truth, apprentice. The evil of the Solar is not so far removed."

"Every man has evil in them," Dallen said hoarsely.

"And every woman," Navia added. "The difference is in outcome. Solars kill millions to advance their beliefs. Sidereal kill thousands to save millions. You know the numbers, apprentice. It is our job to reduce the net number of fatalities in this world, minimize the destructive influence of the Wyld tearing at our borders and the forces of death eating away at our interior." She showed no sign of her satisfaction at seeing the slight flinch on his face. Easthaven had long fought against the Dowager and the Wyld was visible from its tallest towers. "This we do no matter the cost. And we get the results Creation needs, apprentice."

"I don't see why I should believe you. You've already proved the Sidereal are willing to lie to advance their agenda. Why not lie about the reports they use to justify it?" Dallen's eyes smoldered with intelligence and concealed ire.

"If you mistrust the Bureau of Fate, then go to the Bureau of Humanity and search their records," Navia said. "Search wherever you wish. I do not require your belief anymore than your sympathy. I require only that you make effort to uncover the truth...and then act according to the dictates of the conclusion that follows. I require that you make the same commitment to protecting the world that I have."

Iselsi Navia stepped away from her apprentice, bowed once before the Maiden of Endings, and moved to the exit of the shrine. Dallen's voice called out behind, catching her attention. She stopped, turned, and waited calmly for what she knew he would say.

"Would you really have let me kill him?" The Chosen of Battles held up the Heaven-Wrought Parchment. "Would you have killed your only family just to convince me how hard you are?" Honesty at last.

"You do not see." Navia sighed and turned away from him again. "You and I are part of a group that is solely responsible for keeping Creation alive. We do not always agree on the interpretation of data but none of us argue at the necessity of acting on it. We must sacrifice our lives so that all life may live, apprentice. I do not need to demonstrate my 'hardness' to you. I need you to rise to the same level, to be as hard as we must be. For Velessa and any world the two of you might someday live in."

"Leave her out of it," Dallen said, temper smoldering in his crimson eyes.

"The sword is at my neck, apprentice." Navia gestured to his hand and the paper it held. "I have put it in your hands. I love my family and nothing on Heaven or Earth can hurt me more than their deaths. I love Creation and life. I am willing to put my heart and soul on the chopping block for it. Do you love Creation, apprentice? Can you do as I do?"


	4. Chapter 4

Dallen stood in the shrine for a long time, the death warrants gripped in a hand so tense he could no longer feel anything. Navia had returned to her mansion hours ago. He felt relief at the temporary freedom allowed him.

The possibility of running occurred to him and, just as quickly, was dismissed. He'd never been to the Realm. One of Navia's Resplendent Destinies was the Master of the All-Seeing Eye. Even an Outrider couldn't avoid detection in the biggest city in the world...and he'd never get across the ocean unseen unless he swam.

Was she right?

No, she couldn't be. Dallen nodded once to himself as he stared at the statue of the Maiden, sword forever creasing her throat. "I can be that hard." He smirked. "Captain Thallen taught me that. But he taught me that there's some things a man can't live with. And Navia's crossed that line."

His smile widened as he watched the statute of a Maiden not his. "Soldier against soldier, anything goes. I'll kill military targets any way I can, when their back is turned, when they're asleep, by poison if I have to. They put themselves there by making the choice to pick up a sword and hurt others."

"But I'm not a Chosen of Endings or Secrets. Mars Chose me." Dallen looked skyward and caught the dim flicker of his Incarna. "You made me a soldier for You. Well, I'll soldier for you but there's some things I will never do. I won't kill people who have nothing to do with a fight, who didn't ask for it. And nothing Navia says will ever change that."

"Good for you."

Dallen whirled and snatched his starmetal daiklave out of its Elsewhere Point tucked in the back of his waistline. The blade stopped to point accusingly at the man lounging against the far hedge wall. With twenty feet between them, the sword wouldn't do much good but Dallen had no doubts of his ability to track the man if he tried to run.

"Put the fucking sword down before I snap it over your face, kid."

"Who are you?" Dallen demanded.

"Who wants to know?"

Dallen studied the muscular man as he advanced down the garden pathway. The power in the stranger's arms was obvious, even with a long-sleeved button down shirt and a dark red vest for warmth. His boots looked much sturdier than they needed to be for city-living yet he wore a short-brimmed hat that was decidedly unpractical beyond fashion. Dallen looked as a sniper looked and spotted the bulge of knives tucked beneath the wide scarlet sash at his waist, the two up his sleeves and the four in his boots. No armor, though. Interesting.

"Call me Dallen Andair." Not like he'd remember the name anyway.

"Call me Elated Fury."

"You're Elated Fury?" Dallen lowered his blade and stared wonderingly at the Lunar who stopped just outside the shrine entrance.

"Navia's talked about me, has she?" Elated Fury smiled grimly, a predatory flash of white teeth. Dallen saw the sparkle of yellow-blue in the man's eyes, the inhuman cast of a wolf lurking inside. It helped that he knew what to look for. "She should, the bitch. But I'm not around to talk about her. I want to talk about you, kid."

"What do you want?" Dallen asked. He couldn't help but notice the way Elated Fury paced the outside of the shrine, as if he couldn't enter. Come to think of it, he probably couldn't without tripping an alarm at least. Clever Lunar. Of course, he'd have to be to survive this long on the Blessed Isle.

Dallen remembered the first time he'd read a reference to the Silver Anathema. He'd been in Navia's office, filling out paperwork for his own, when he'd spotted a 'Wanted' poster on the wall, one of the Division of Endings Proclamations of Doom upon some individual. He'd thought it strange to see one here and then he'd noticed how old it was. Asking around hadn't been hard. It was well known that Elated Fury had killed Navia's last Dragon-blooded pupil and tried to kill the man who became her husband. Somehow, he slipped the Sidereal who'd caught him and no one had ever caught him since.

The rogue Lunar didn't look centuries old. He didn't look much past his late 30s actually. He certainly didn't look like the only man Iselsi Navia appeared to have a vendetta with.

"Your help."

"You're serious. Why? What makes you think I can? What makes you think I will? Why should I trust you?" Dallen chuckled, feeling fairly safe. Navia wasn't far from this garden and she wouldn't leave a death warrant on her family unprotected.

"Enough with the fucking questions!" Elated Fury shook his head, took his hat off and scratched his shoulder-length brown hair. The gesture inexplicably reminded Dallen of E'lial, the fellow Chosen of Battles he'd only met once. "Let's put our cards down, kid. I fucking hate your kind. And I've every reason to believe your kind hates me. The thing of it is, you're the first man I've ever met who hated Navia as much as I do. What'd she do to you, anyway?"

"That's none of your business, mister."

"Fine by me, kid. I'm not here to trade secrets. I'm here to fuck Navia over the way she fucked me over. You have something I want. And I bet I have something you want."

The older Lunar's yellow-blue eyes caught the moonlight, gleamed in a suddenly monstrous way. Dallen remembered Sae'ril and how she did things. For some reason, he didn't think Elated Fury did things the same way. "Like you said, let's put our cards down. What do you want from me?"

"What you're holding."

Dallen looked down at the sword in his hand...then looked at death warrants still clutched in the other. "What? Why? They won't do you any good."

"You let me worry about that, kid."

The Chosen of Battles shivered in the cool spring night. For all that the Sidereal were supposed to be the secret spymasters of the world, at the moment he knew a deeper game moved around him. Elated Fury wanted to use him as a pawn. Then again, so did Navia. Who to trust? A Lunar he knew nothing about or his Sifu?

...actually, he did know something about Elated Fury. Navia hated him.

"Let's say I'm willing. What are you offering?"

"Your girl." Dallen stared at the Lunar, suddenly suspicious. "Shit, I haven't kidnapped her, kid." Elated Fury looked disgusted. "I can get her for you, though."

"You mean like...a message or her in person?"

"Message would be easier...but I'm pretty sure I could swing getting her here." Elated Fury inhaled sharply. "And those other people you're worried about. Your commander and your fellow soldiers."

Dallen thought about it. "And I'm supposed to trust you? Like you said, my kind hate you and I know you hate my Sifu. I give you these documents, you can walk off and disappear. But I have to trust you to uphold your end of the deal...and I don't know why I should believe you will."

"If you know anything about me, you'll know I deal squarely." Elated Fury straightened, tugged on his vest tightly and gave Dallen a serious look. "I believe a man is only worth their word. I couldn't do business without the trust that comes from keeping that word. You have my word, kid. It's up to you if it's enough. I want what I want and you want what you want. And we both hate Iselsi Navia, no matter who she says she is this time. You in?"

Dallen stood there for a long, agonizing minute. Elated Fury let him be, seeming to implictly recognize the internal conflict. For Dallen had to admit, he felt conflict. He didn't know what Elated Fury wanted with death warrants he couldn't use...but there was no question the Lunar hated Navia. No question Navia hated him too, given what he'd already done to her.

Which was the problem. Elated Fury had killed Navia's pupil, a daughter of the Scarlet Empress. He'd already tried to murder Da'nashay once. Dallen didn't doubt the man would follow through if he had the chance to do it again.

And Dallen couldn't permit that.

The Chosen of Endings trembled once, the pain of losing Velessa to the other side of the world burning anew with this poisoned hope. He could see her again...if he sold out one of the finest Generals of the Scarlet Empire, a man of honor and courage. For all the difference that birth and age made, Da'nashay could be Captain Thallen Keo's brother. They were that much alike. And Colonel Da'nashay Rhiann had some of Chen's stately reserve mingled with a hint of Kestrel's warmth. She was a soldier of valor who certainly did not deserve to die horribly, a sacrificed pawn in the struggle between an elder Sidereal and Lunar.

"I can't do it."

"This isn't some fucked-up Sidereal loyalty, is it?" Elated Fury sniffed, rubbed his nose and shrugged. "Guess not. I respect you, kid. Can't say I like it going against me but I respect a man who sticks by his principles."

"So what now?" Dallen said.

"Now?" Elated Fury glanced skyward and tugged his coat closed. "You go back to training with a Sidereal you hate. I go back to getting shit done, the way I always do it. Maybe someday we'll have a little more trust. So let me make the first move." The Lunar reached into a pocket and pulled out a black signet ring. He gently set it down on the ground, just outside the shrine entrance.

"What's that?"

"What's it look like? It's a fucking invitation." Elated Fury smiled again, a feral baring of teeth that seemed equal parts threat and amusement. "If you change your mind...if you want to trade for information or do business, you bring that to the Eleven O'clock Owl. You show it to the staff and you can find me."

Dallen stared at the black signet ring and slipped his sword back into the Elsewhere Point. "That's a lot of trust."

"Could be. Could be a trap to fuck you over too." Elated Fury chuckled and backed up. "The choice is still yours, kid. You can trust me or not...but I've made the first gesture. You change your mind, come find me. But leave the bitch at home. If I ever see her, I'm afraid I'll have to bust her fucking teeth in and I don't want to do that to a woman." He tipped his hat. "Be seeing you, Corporal."

Dallen watched the Lunar go. He watched long after the Exalt had disappeared, longer still until the sky began to lighten. Stiffly, he moved from where he'd stood during the night and carefully tucked the Heaven-Wrought Parchment back into the hand of the Maiden. Then he headed for bed.

"Navia...what are you doing awake?"

Iselsi Navia turned from the window and glanced back at her husband. Pale streaks of dawning light in the sky illumed the deep purples and reds of her husband's bare chest and arms. The canopy kept his face in shadow but Navia saw the pure emerald gleam of his eyes in the dark. She smiled.

"I was collecting my thoughts." The Chosen of Secrets looked back and spotted Dallen making his way toward the mansion. Her Supernal Awareness sifted through the myriad layers of Essence, separating out his personal Essence from the Elsewhere point on his person. Finding nothing, Navia's senses probed across the mansion's lawn, into the shrine, and past the thousand tiny wards beneath the shrine, painstakingly carved for her by the Mountain Folk. She let out a breath and chided herself for the tension. The Heaven-Wrought Parchment was back in the Maiden's hand.

"You're leaving again," Da'nashay said. The deep rumble of his voice tickled her back when his chest pressed against her shoulders. Powerful arms, honed by decades of service in the Legions, slid around her.

Navia leaned back into his embrace. "Yes, later today. I wish I could stay longer."

"I have always loved your devotion to duty." The Dragon-Blooded husband of the Chosen of Secrets leaned down and kissed her neck. Rough stubble scratched her neck, a reassuring familiarity so distinctly him.

"And I have always loved you." Navia permitted the two tears that fell from her eyes and Da'nashay did not notice them. "No matter what happens, remember that. If you never remember anything else, always remember that." Her hands crept out and clasped his wrists tightly as she cherished the feeling of safety and shelter. "Something important is coming up."

He stiffened behind her, the hard sheathes of muscle beneath his skin tightening as if turning to jade. "I remember the last time something important came up."

"I'm sorry I couldn't find your mother. I tried." Navia sighed deeply, reassured once more by the caress of his hand on her shoulder. He'd never held that failure against her, nor reproached her for not telling him his mother had gone missing until a year later. Da'nashay was a very good man, one of the best. And he loved her. "I may be around more. Perhaps a great deal more this year."

"I would like that."

"I will join you for breakfast in a few minutes, my husband." Navia patted his hand as it squeezed her arm once before withdrawing. Da'nashay silently dressed and withdrew, knowing and respecting her needs.

When she was finally alone, Navia drew a Lesser Sign of Secrets and secured the bedroom against all manner of spying, divination and mischief. In a minute, this part of the mansion might as well have been in the Forbidding Manse of Ivy. The Chosen of Secrets closed the drapes, casting the room into shadow.

She stood for a minute longer, reassuring herself that all was safe. "Sol Invictus, my Maiden Jupiter Chose me long ago but my heart was Yours before any other." The Sidereal bowed her head reverentially. "Hear my sins, Father, and pardon them please." She knelt.

"I put my husband and daughter's life in another's hands yesterday. I did so, knowing that there was a 2 chance of him signing their deaths...and a 49 chance of him giving their fate into the hands of Elated Fury. They could have been sentenced to death, Father, and I confess my culpability in this matter. I place this sin before You."

Navia kissed her fingertips and pressed them between her breasts, against her heart.

"Sol Invictus, hear the sins I must commit and pardon them please." The Sidereal drew a deep breath. "I must keep my husband and daughter in danger and risk their lives again, every time it is necessary. I place this sin before You. I must drive Dallen to make connections in the Gold Faction and bind himself to the Bureau of Fate by Ascending Fire or destroy his love with the Wanting and Fearing. I place this sin before You."

The Chosen of Secrets kissed her fingertips, touched her forehead and then pressed her fingers against her heart again. She took a deep breath and spoke on.

"I must continue to kill Your Children, Father, wherever they rise. I must destroy their agenda, their power and their lives and I must stop them without mercy or honor for they have proven they are beyond redemption, just as I am." One tear fell. "I must continue to sin grievously against You to save the world. I must sacrifice my life and all that I want for myself to save the world. I must embrace wickedness to save the world." Another tear fell. "I place this sin before You. May the world You represent come to be someday...and may it be a place my daughters can live in." Two more tears.

Navia halted, briefly overcome by that vision of paradisiacal hope. "Father, I honor and revere Your name and what You represent. When someday comes...I pray You forgive my sins and make my destruction as swift as I deserve."

Her prayer done, the elder Chosen of Secrets leaned backwards and huddled against the foot of the bed permitted herself the Secret luxury of crying. When she finished, Navia dried her face and put on a dress of finely spun green silk with a gold trim. She studied her reflection in the mirror on her dresser and nodded, satisfied.

Serenity was making peace with the evil you do.


End file.
